Name: Lake Turkana Location: Kenya, East Africa Age: Pliocene/ Pleistocene (4-0 Ma)

Introduction to the Lake Turkana Basin

Map of the east African region indicating the location of the Lake Turkana Basin

Lake Turkana is the most northern lake within the Kenyan portion of the Great Rift Valley.  It was once known as Lake Rudolph.  Its northern shore lies close to Ethiopia, with the great River Omo running northwards from the lake, connecting the two east African countries. 

The sediments around Lake Turkana have been highly productive of extraordinarily preserved hominid fossil remains dating throughout the Pliocene and Pleistocene.  The Lake Turkana Basin can be divided into a number of different sites (Kanapoi, Koobi Fora, Nariokototome, Lomekwi) that can be categorised by the age of the strata, and the type of hominids fossils that have been unearthed.  This site looks at the geological history of Lake Turkana, the formation of these sites and some of the highly significant fossils found in the sediment.